Militants Attack Church and Police in Egypt, One Policeman Dead

People gather at the scene of an explosion that killed at least one person on a bridge over the Nile River near Cairo on Sunday.Hassan Ammar / AP

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April 6, 2015, 12:31 AM GMT / Source: NBC News

Islamist militants hit Egypt's two largest cities Sunday with a bombing in Cairo and an attack on a church in Alexandria, killing a police officer and wounding seven other people, security sources said.

In a separate incident, the leader of a militant group that has targeted police and soldiers around the capital was killed in a firefight with security forces early Sunday, the Interior Ministry said.

A bomb explosion on a bridge leading to the upscale Cairo district of Zamalek, which hosts many embassies, killed a police officer, the Interior Ministry said. Two other officers and a civilian were injured. The force of the bomb, which the sources said was planted in or near a car, left a shallow crater and pools of blood on the May 15 Bridge.

In Alexandria, militants in a microbus shot at the Church of the Angel Rafael, wounding a police officer and three civilians, before fleeing, security sources said.

Sunday's bombing was claimed on Twitter by Ajnad Misr, a militant group that emerged in January 2014 and has targeted security forces in and around Cairo.

In a separate incident, the founder and leader of Ajnad Misr was killed by security forces, security sources said. The Interior Ministry said in a statement that under his leadership, the group had launched 26 attacks on police and soldiers.

People gather at the scene of an explosion that killed at least one person on a bridge over the Nile River, near an upscale neighborhood of Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, April 5, 2015. Attacks mainly targeting Egyptian security forces have spiked since the 2013 military overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi following massive protests against his divisive rule.Hassan Ammar / AP